Art Deco gets a chalk paint makeover

This is one of my projects for Painters In Residence, a commission I had from Annie Sloan Chalk Paint to use the paints, varnishes, and other products from her range.  This cupboard and chair were bought on ebay, the chair was missing its seat and the cupboard had seen better days but the shape and detailing was lovely and typical of the Art Deco style with big cog like shapes on the legs.

The photos above show my progress.

I chose the colours Florence and Graphite with leafing in brass and copper.  The copper under the brass gives it an extra depth and ties in nicely with the skull fabric on the chair seat.  The fabric came from Van Asch who, as you probably know, I work with regularly on ideas and looks. To achieve this finish paint the area required with Gold Size, wait until it becomes clear and then lay the leaf over the area, brushing away the loose bits to leave the metallic layer stuck to the gold size. Very easy to use and highly recommended. 

I painted over the Florence chalk paint with a crackle finish that is also an Annie Sloan product. It comes in two pots called Craqueleur, paint on the first layer and let it dry, then paint on the second layer, in a warm place, and it will dry with fine cracks in the surface.  It changes the colour in a different way to the wax.  Over this I applied both clear and dark wax, purposely leaving it dark in places to give depth and age to the surface. 

Graphite on the cupboard was also dark waxed to make it more black. 

I styled this all together with a graphite wall and cut a deco style stencil for the wall above. To this I also applied brass leafing.  

If you have lovely shaped furniture but don't like different wood colours or too much brown this is a perfect way to give a cohesive look in the room, keep the colours in the same tone range and take some onto the walls as well.  A carefully chosen  palette is a brilliant way to tie a look together. To continue the look choose frames to add leafing to, gold stands out so well on black, its timeless. The prints in the frames were original book pages bought on ebay by Erte, the father of Art Deco, a Russian born artist living in France. His images are the antithesis of that period. 

Boy stuff

Everywhere I go I see so many pretty things for little girls. Having 2 boys and wanting to style them nicely I have a few lovely picks to share with you. Loving Zara's bay and boy clothing. Many luittle details and nice quality things.

teepee (tipi) pillows from Apple white Etsy seller

 

Butter scotch moccasins from Freshly picked

 

I have had many mums looking at my kids feet, liking these super soft and durable moccasins.

 

boy infinity scarf from hobsonvilleco etsy seller

 

a nice rock star poster for his room from Tekstposter

 

 

Sliding doors

I am really looking into these DIY sliding doors, so practical for small spaces.
Browsing through pinterest I see a few diferent ways to do it. Barnstyle, or with plumbing tubes (my least favorite) or with a rail system on top ond little wheels on the floor ( i dont like to see rails in the floor)

 

Great to divide a room, hide a nook, close a pantry etc endless posibilities.

retty right! I adore it!

office

source

Love the positive message on the office wall! A really good idea to make one yourself in vinyl and put it on the wall for you and you and your co workers.

We outgrown our office and we are currently looking for a big warehouse, so that is quite exciting as

I want a lot of Space. I want a big office and showroom, one that I can decorate to my taste.

My current office is too tiny. Me and my workers are working too close to eachother, for the moment we are enjoying eachothers company, I am very blessed to have such great girls working for me.

Two kids and a good going company is too much to handle some times. I admire all mums that are entrepeneurs as well, It's hard work!

My greetings to to mum Camilla from Effortless Style. She has two adorable sons, spends lovely quality time with them and besides work she has time to make posts for her lovely blog.

 

 

Decorative Living

This week I finally made it along to the Decorative Living Fair at Chelsea Town Hall, I say finally because I've been meaning to go for some time. The fair is organized by Caroline Zoob and is a beautiful collective of stallholders, chosen for their high quality in the decorative living arena.  

Every stall has combinations of antique and handmade items, clothing and craft supplies. The venue is gorgeous, it makes such a big difference to the shopping experience to be in beautiful surroundings. I was so impressed with how much attention to detail had gone into making the stands, especially considering this is a one day event, hats off to all the hard work that went into it by everyone.

Three French Hens

Beyond France

The Old Haberdashery.  The owner has recently been to China and brought back some great pieces. 

Belle Epoque

Lisa Brown Vintage Flower Paintings

part of the Homes & Antiques stand.

  

There was also the extra surprise of bumping into Alice and Sam from Homes & Antiques magazine.  Alice was the first person from H&A that I ran into some years ago and drew my attention to how great the mag is now. I also love love love the fact that they get out and meet their readers and this must surely be the reason for why the magazine is so appealing, as they listen to their public.  The November issue has a gorgeous feature on Annie Sloans latest book and photographs of some of the homes featured in it. Apart from my little cottage is the home of Alex Russell Flint, an artist with a home to die for, an amazing place in France with the wow factor for sure. 

It was lovely to see so many familiar faces. Some of these businesses will be at Petworth House in November. Under the banner of Winter Brocant, the Petworth House fair is organised by Love Lane Vintage and sounds like a very glamorous affair. 

If Ive missed out a credit please let me know, I seem to have mislaid all the business cards I collected. 

Petworth House Winter Brocant is now firmly in the diary for November, hope to see you there if not before at the great MK Handmade and Vintage Fair in October.